‘Trump Match’ to add spice to PBL

New Delhi: The Premier Badminton League (PBL) will see the introduction of a ‘Trump Match’, a rule which could prove to be the game-changer when the 16-day long event gets underway on January 2.

There will be five matches in a tie and every team will have the option of selecting one of these matches as their ‘Trump Match’ in which a victory would give the team a bonus point and a loss a negative point.

In another minor rule modification, each match will take into consideration the best of three games and each game will be played for 15 points, with sudden-death at 14-14.

Speaking on the new format, Akhilesh Das Gupta, Badminton Association of India President and PBL Chairman said: “The idea behind introducing the new rules is to make the League more competitive.

“The new format will keep each team on the edge as each day will produce a new result and might put different teams on a better footing vis-a-vis the positions that they were in a day earlier. So, no team can take any match lightly as one wrong move could mean positions changing for them.”

According to the ‘Trump Match’ rules, both teams will specify which of the five matches will be their respective Trump Match along with the list of players at least one hour before the start of the tie with the feferee. It is allowed for both the teams to have their Trumps in the same match.

In the Trump Match, the team that has called for the Trump gets two points for a win and a negative point for a loss.

However, the other team will play this match as a normal match. If both the teams place the trump on the same match, then for both of them the +2 or -1 scoring system will apply. According to the new format announced by PBL on Tuesday, each team plays five ties with the other five teams for a toal of 15 ties during the league stage followed by the semifinals and final. Each tie will comprise five matches — men’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s singles, mixed doubles and men’s singles.

Also only after each team shares the list of players who will be playing the five matches and their choice of Trump Match will the order of play be mutually decided by the PBL technical team and Star India before each tie, in a bid to keep things unpredictable.